Pole reenforcement



April 22, 1930- e. B. SPRING 1,755,461

POLE REENFORGEMENT Filed 001;. 7, 1926 \nvenfof. 7 George B. Spring ATTys" Patented Apr. 22, 1930 GEORGE B. SPRING, OF WEST NEWTON, MASSACHUSETTS POLE REENFORCEMENT Application filed October 7, 1926. Serial No. 139,979.

This invention relates to reenforcing means for wooden poles and particularly to reenstand any swaying tendency of the pole and one of the objects of the present invention is to provide a reen structed to give an 15 and, therefore a earth.

forcement which is conincreased earth resistance better anchorage 1n the Another object of the invention is to provide an improved reenforcing member which is constructed to have increased strength at 20 a point just above the earths surface which is the point at which the member is subjected to the greatest strain by any swaying tendency of the pole.

' Other objects of the invention are to improve generally pole reenforcements in the particulars hereinafter set forth.

In order to give invention I have il an understanding of the lustrated in the drawings some selected embodiments thereof which will now be described after which the novel features will be poin claims.

Fig. l is a view ted out in the appended showing the lower endof a wooden pole reenforced with my improved reenforcement Fig. 2 is a view Fig. 1;

taken at right angles to,

Fig. 8 is a section on the line 33, Fig. 1; Fig. 4 is a section on the line 44, Fig. 1;

Fig. 5 is a section on the line 55, Fig. 1;- Fig. 6is a sectional view similar to Fig. 4.

but showing a mod ification of the invention;

Fig. 7 is a section similar to Fig. 5 but showing a modification of the invention.

In the drawings 1 indicates a wooden pole which may be a telephone pole, telegraph pole, electric light pole or other transmission pole, a flag pose. One disadvantag pole or a pole used for any pure resulting from the use of wooden poles is that after a few years use they become weakened by decay at or just below the surface. of the earth as shown at 3 in Figs. 1 and 2. -The pole reenforcement which forms the subject of this invention is for the purpose of strengthening a pole which hasbecome thus weakened.

The pole reenforcement is of that known type which comprises one or more reenforcing members, preferably of iron, set into the earth alongside of the pole and clamped thereto. In the drawings I have shown two such reenforcing members although the number may be varied without departing from the invention. These reenforcing members are indicated at 4 and each is of special shape designed to provide increased earth resistance and also to have a maximum strength for the weight of the member.

These reenforcing members are clamped to the pole above the earth by means ofsuitable clamping members indicated generallyv at 13. The particular construction of the clamping devices will be described more fully hereafter.

The portion of each reenforcing member which is embedded in the earth 2is formed with one or more outwardly-extending ribs or webs 5 which are partly for the purpose of giving strength to the reenforcing member and partly for the purpose of providing earth resistance.

As stated above one feature of the invention relates to a novel construction by which an increased earth resistance is secured without adding extra weight to the reenforcing member, this being an important item because these membersare usually made of malleable iron castings and'their cost depends upon the Weight.

When a pole which is reenforced as herein shown is subjected to a force tending to sway it laterallyeither' to the right or the left in Fig. 2 the portion of the pole and the reenforcing members which are embedded in the earth will be subjected to a force tending to displace them in the earth. If, for instance, a force is applied to the pole tending to swing it to the right in Fig. 2 the strain which is transmitted to the reenforcing members will 1 a tend to swing them in the earth so as to move the upper portion of the reenforcing member to the right and the lower portion to the left. Consequently the tendency of the pole to swing to the right in Fig. 2 will beresisted by the pressure of the earth against the right hand face of the upper portion 6 of the rib 5 seen in Fig. 2 and by the pressure of the earth against the left hand face of the lower portion 7 of said rib. The intermediate portion 8 of the rib has relatively little effect in resisting the swaying tendency of the pole.

Consequently in order that the ribs may have a maximum earth resistance for the weight of the reenforcing member I propose to make the portions 6 and 7 wider than the intermediate portion 8 so that the material of the web or rib will be located at the points where it is most efiective in withstanding swaying tendency of the pole. In this way an increased earth resistance is provided without adding to the weight of the reenforcing member.

If a pole is pretty well decayed at the surface of the earth so that it has very little, if

any, strength, then the reenforcing member or members are called upon to withstand substantially the entire strain incident to resisting such lateral swinging tendency. This will bring the severest breaking strain on the reenforcing members at a point just above the earth surface and one feature of my invention relates to a novel construction whereby added strength is given to the reenforcing members at this point without unduly increasing their weight.

Each reenforcing member is made wider in a direction circumferentially of the pole at a point just above the surfaceof the earth than at either end. In the drawings the reenforcing members are shown widest at a point 9, each member tapering from the point 9 to the bottom and also tapering from said point to the top. Each reenforcing member is also provided at each edge with a rib 10, the ribs following the edges. These ribs, being separated most at the point 9 and tapering toward each other in each direction from said point 9, have a sort of truss effect which adds materially to the strength of the reenforcing member. The ribs 10 are also formed with flat outer faces 11 which serve to give added earth resistance and thus augment the action of the ribs 5 in holding the reenforcing members firmly in the earth.

The clamping members by which the reenforcing members are clamped to the pole 1 are shown in Figs, 1, 2 and 3 as comprising clamping rods 12 and connecting plates 13. In Figs. 1, 2 and 3 each clamp is shown as comprising two clamping rods 12, each rod being bent around the reenforcing member and extending through ears 14 on the connect ing plates 13. Each rod has at one end a head 15 which engages the ear on one plate and the other end has a nut 16 screw threaded thereto which engages the ear on the other plate. By tightening the nuts 16 the clamps will be tightened and the reenforcing members will thus be clamped firmly to the pole.

The reenforcing members are preferably provided with grooves 18 in their outer faces in which the clamping rods 12 are received.

In Fig. 7 I have shown a slightly difierent construction wherein the ribs 10 are provided with openings 19 through which the clamping rods 20 extend. In this case I may employ four clamping rods, one connecting each end of each plate 13 to one of the ribs 10.

In Fig. 6 I have shown a construction which may be used for the upper clamping member. In this construction the reenforcing member is provided with a rib 21in the groove 18 and the clamping rods are formed with the offset 22 to fit around the rib, the purpose of this being to prevent any lateral movement of the upper end of the reenforcing member relative to the clamping member.

The connecting plates 13 are shown as bein relatively wide which is an advantage in case the pole has softened by. decay.

The construction shown in Fig. 4 may be used for both the top and the bottom clamps if desired.

I claim; Y

1. The combination with a pole, of a reenforcing member therefor set into the earth alongside of the pole and means for clamping said reenforcing member to the pole, said reenforcing member having on the portion thereof which is embedded in the earth,

an outwardly-extending rib which by its engagement with the earth resists lateral swinging movement of the pole, an intermediate portion of said rib having less width than the upper and lower portions thereof and the portion above the intermediate narrow portion being wider and longer than the portion below said narrow intermediate portion.

2. The combination with a pole, of a reenforcing member set into the earth alongside of the pole and clamped thereto, said reenforcing member having on the portion thereof which is embeddedin the earth an outwardly-extending rib, which furnishes earth resistance to the lateral movement of the pole, said reenforcing member being wider circumferentially of the pole at the surface of the earth than at the ends, and being provided with a rib extending along each edge 1 from the top to the bottom, said ribs functioning as a truss to add strength to the reenforcing member and the outer faces of said ribs being shaped to present additional earth resistance to overcome any tendency of the pole to swing laterally.

3. The combination with a pole, of a reenforcing member therefor set into the earth alongside thereof, said reenforcing member having a groove extending transversely there Ii. 1;

of and a rib extending transversely across the groove, and a clamp for clamping the reenforcing member to the pole, said clamp comprising plates engaging the pole and hav- 5 ing ears and clamping rods connecting the ears and received in the groove of the reenforcing member, said clamping rod having an offset portion to fit the rib in the groove thereby forming an interlocking connection be- 10 tween the rod and reenforcing member which prevents relative movementbetween these parts either longitudinally or transversely of the reenforcing member.

4. The combination with a pole, of a reen- 1r forcing member therefor set into the earth alongside thereof, said reenforcing member having two grooves extending transversely thereof on its back face, and a rib extending transversely across one of the grooves, two 20 clamps for clamping the reenforcing member to the pole, each clamp comprising a clamping rod occupying one of the grooves and one of the rods having an offset portion .to interlock with the rib, said reenforcing 25 member having on its outer face a longitudinally-extending rib situated below the grooves and which provides earth resistance, said rib being narrower at an intermediate portion than at either end.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

GEORGE B. SPRING. 

